Merry Christmas, Darling
by orangepencils
Summary: Alfred is preparing Christmas Eve dinner and Arthur is on his way.


**Merry Christmas, Darling**

**235**

**Another Christmas story because Christmas is almost here. This little guy took ages to write, was a pain in the behind and might just get split into two chapters because it's so bloody long. That and it just goes off into a different direction at some point, so we'll see.**

**Disclaimer: Holidays are simply awesome.**

**UKxUS because the pairing is awesome.**

**Oh and pre-established relationship! And, I firmly believe that Alfred/America could cook up a decent meal if he really wanted to. That's all I have to say in the defence of the turkey meal. And, let's all pretend that cameras existed in the past when America was a British colony. **

Merry Christmas, Darling

It was Christmas Eve and Alfred F. Jones was scurrying about his kitchen getting the last of the small Christmas feast ready. Any minute now, his lover, Arthur Kirkland, would be ringing his doorbell. He would have gone to pick him up, but the older man had insisted that he could hire a cab to bring him here. Alfred took out the mashed potatoes from his oven just as the doorbell rung.

"_Speak of the devil._" America thought as he put down his oven mitts and walked to the front door. He brushed his shirt and pants to remove imaginary creases and checked out his overall appearance in the mirror before opening the door.

On the other side, he found his beau who was holding a rather large bag that was filled with many different things and his duffel bag. The snowy background and the way Arthur was standing there with a soft smile on his face made the younger man's heart soar with love.

He moved aside and let the Englishman in before the cold air came in his house. America then took England's bags from his hands and put them down by the door. Once that was done, he assisted his guest with removing his coat and hat and put them in the closet.

America then allowed himself to look over England's outfit. The shorter nation was wearing a green sweater vest with red rhombuses on top of a crisp white shirt and green plait pants. Alfred had to admit that Arthur was perhaps the only one who could wear a sweater vest and make it look so attractive. The two looked like quite the festive pair since he was wearing red pants and a green sweater that had red little Christmas trees on it.

"Merry Christmas." Arthur told him as he walked up to him. Alfred put his arms around Arthur and pulled him close. By doing so, they were both standing underneath the mistletoe that America had purposely placed over there.

"England, look." He pointed upwards and the older nation brought his gaze in that direction.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?" America simply smirked and tilted his face closer to Arthur's. The Briton indulged him for this time since it was the holidays and it was sort of endearing.

They shared a short kiss before the sound of the beeping oven called Alfred back. Arthur followed him to the kitchen and leaned against the island in the middle of the room as he watched the younger man check up on whatever was in the oven.

"I must say, I'm thoroughly impressed. I didn't know that it was possible for you to cook anything other than hamburgers." England told him with a teasing smile when he saw the turkey and other dishes that were slowly cooking in the oven.

"You'd be surprised at the things I can cook. Not all of us are as inapt as you are when it comes to the kitchen." Arthur sent a pitted olive flinging at Alfred who simply caught it effortlessly with his mouth.

"Let's see if it'll actually taste good." America said nothing and smirked as he placed the mashed potatoes in a serving dish before setting them down on the nicely decorated table. They continued exchanging pleasantries until dinner was finally ready.

When England saw the food on the table, he was surprised by the quality of it. Everything seemed proper and well thought of. Perhaps some of the etiquette that Arthur had bestowed on Alfred hadn't been lost after all these years. America went to put on some soft Christmas music before coming back to the eating area and proceeding to carve the turkey breast.

"No over abundance of food? None of those blasted burgers of yours? My, my America, what has gotten into you?" Alfred knew that Arthur was only kidding with him so he took no offense to it.

"Well, I wanted to make everything special for you and I wanted to avoid a repeat of last year." They both laughed at that as they remembered the incident. America really had made hamburgers for Christmas Eve dinner and England hadn't let him live it down ever since.

"So far, so good." Arthur told him as he toasted with the other man. He took a sip of the Californian wine and had to admit that it was pleasantly good. It wasn't quite like the wines from France or the ones from Italy, but coming from America, it was refreshing.

Overall, England had to admit that the younger country had truly outdone himself for the meal. Everything from the turkey breast, to the potatoes and other side dishes, to the salad and cheese platter had been simply delightful.

"If you start cooking like this more often; I'll never jibe about your lack of culinary skills ever again." Arthur told him as he took the last bite of turkey that was covered with gravy. Alfred watched as his lover closed his eyes and savoured the moment before washing it down with another sip of wine. America beamed, pleased with himself.

They chatted some more as they digested what had been an excellent meal before the American brought the dessert out which happened to be apple pie and Christmas pudding that Arthur was so very fond of.

England could find nothing to complain about. He was deeply touched that America had gone through all this trouble to make him happy. He felt bad leaving him with all the dirty dishes so he had pushed Alfred away when he had been told to leave the dishes in the sink.

"It's the least I can do." The Brit replied. Alfred had said nothing at first and had simply watched, until he walked up to his companion and wrapped his arms around Arthur's waist. The older man had tensed up at first at the close contact and had let the water run on the dish without actually washing it until he shut it off.

"If this is another one of your attempts to get me to stop cleaning the dishes, it won't work." America pouted, disappointed that his plan had failed.

"It's my kitchen and you're my guest. I should be doing this, not you." England sighed and put the dishrag down.

"If it means that much to you, you can dry the dishes." America seemed content with that and started right away. In the end, it had been a good idea for Alfred to do the drying since he knew where everything went.

Once they had finished with everything, they went into the living room to sit by the Christmas tree for the exchanging of the gifts. England admired the Christmas tree while America went to get his camera. Arthur was surprised to see some old ornaments that he had either given to Alfred or made with him when the younger one had been nothing but a little colony. When America came back and saw what England was looking at, he pulled the Brit close to him and smiled.

"I would have thought that you would have destroyed these." He said as he caressed the smooth surface of a Christmas bauble.

"At first I wanted to, but then I just stored them away and I only found them recently. Still, I'm glad they survived. They do bring back some good memories." Arthur had to agree with that. The Christmases that he had spent with the young child had been pleasant and light hearted.

"What do you say if we open the presents?" America whispered in his ear when he noticed that Arthur was lost in his thoughts of way back then. England blinked his eyes and looked up at the man the child had turned into. He slowly nodded and let himself be guided to the couch.

When he was seated, America went to get the two presents that were under the tree. Alfred insisted that England open his present first so the older nation had taken the slightly heavy box out of Alfred's hands and had started removing the bow. He removed the lid off the box and came face to face with a brown leather book. He opened it and gasped when he saw the first picture.

The picture was of him and Alfred celebrating their first Christmas together so many years ago. Arthur looked up to the older version of the child that he had held in his arms in the past and saw him smiling.

"However did you get this picture?"

"I had to call a few people up and look through a few books. Keep looking, you might find some other interesting ones." America told him. Arthur repositioned himself on the couch and Alfred took the seat next to him.

The next set of photographs was taken throughout the many trips that England had made to visit his young little protégé. Each picture represented a happy moment in both of their lives. At times, Arthur didn't even remember the pictures being taken, but he had the proof in front of him.

The last picture of the first section showed a gangly teenager with his arms around Arthur's waist in a friendly hug wearing a cowboy hat, while England was wearing some festive colors. They were both standing in front of the Christmas tree and had smiles on their faces.

When Arthur flipped the page, he noticed that many years had passed since the previous picture. He realized that it had been during the period where he hadn't talked to America for obvious reasons. There were some group photos since the two hadn't been on friendly terms and after a few pages of those, things had started getting better between the two of them.

The pictures that England liked the best were the candid shots. He was happy to see that one of his ultimate favourites had made it into the album. The picture in question had been taken at one of Alfred's extravagant birthday parties a few decades ago.

* * *

Even though Arthur had declined the invitation, at the very last minute, he had decided to go to the blasted party. The two of them had inadvertently ended up arguing over some triviality and England had slightly shoved at America. Normally, the American wouldn't have fallen over, except that they had been standing by the edge of the pool and the floor was wet. Alfred had gone flying, fully clothed, into the pool.

England had doubled over in laughter and had laughed a great deal. When America had resurfaced, he had pulled Arthur in with him. At first, the older man had been about to yell at him for being so reckless, but then his eyes had met with Alfred's and the two had just laughed together.

* * *

That was when the picture had been taken. From there, their relationship had taken a turn for the best.

Arthur looked at the other pictures with Alfred. There were some that America had tried to take of them and some that were taken by others, some that were goofy and some that were "more serious". But most of all, they were pictures that made them smile.

The last picture was of them taking a walk together in a park and holding hands. Arthur recognized the scenery and knew that it had been taken the summer that had just past, but for the life of him, he did not remember the younger man bringing his camera with him. England deemed it better to say nothing and flipped the page only to find it blank. He turned the next few pages and they were empty as well. He looked up to America with quizzical eyes.

"You can fill those up with other pictures that you like of the two of us." Alfred said as he nuzzled his lover's hair.

"That's very thoughtful of you. Thank you for the lovely present. Those were some very fond memories." America smiled and took out his Polaroid camera.

"How about we take one now in front of the tree like we used to?" England didn't object to the idea and got up from the couch. He went to stand by the tall Christmas tree as the American set up his camera on his tripod. Once the self timer was set, he walked back to where England was and pulled him close.

"Merry Christmas, Arthur." Alfred whispered into his ear before tilting his face closer to his own and planting a loving kiss to those rosy lips he liked so much. England was shocked for about half a second, before he wrapped his arms around the American's shoulders and brought him closer to him.

At that precise moment, the flash went off and the picture was taken.

The two nations didn't pay much attention to it and continued with their activity. When America pulled away, England snuggled closer to him, missing the physical contact.

"Don't worry, there'll be more of that later." Alfred told him with a smirk. Arthur didn't say a word and simply sat back down on the couch. America followed suit and draped his arm over England's shoulders.

"I suppose you want your present now?" The older nation asked. Alfred nodded his head eagerly and Arthur had to suppress a chuckle as he handed him the box. America tore at the paper in a matter of seconds and pried the top of the box away. He removed the tissue paper and soon found a beautiful hand-knitted red sweater with green Christmas motifs on it. Alfred immediately loved it.

"You made this for me?" He asked after a pause. He touched the soft fabric and couldn't help but smile when Arthur nodded.

"Try it on, I want to see if it fits properly." America removed his own festive sweater that he had been wearing and Arthur had to admit that he certainly enjoyed the view. America pulled the sweater over his head and it was almost a perfect fit.

Even though it was slightly too big, the younger nation assured him that it wasn't a problem since he liked it when his sweaters were a bit baggy on him. Arthur finally relented and watched as Alfred removed the sweater once more and went to put the one that he had been previously wearing, but the Briton stopped him.

"You don't have to put it back on." Arthur told him as he put a hand on that familiar well toned chest. America smirked as he sat back down and pulled the smaller man to him.

"And why's that?"

"Because, I can think of something that won't need you to wear a shirt." England pressed a kiss to his exposed collarbone and it made him shudder with pleasure.

"Mmh, how about we continue this upstairs?" Alfred whispered in his ear.

"I don't mind, as long as we hurry up. I still need to check in at the hotel." America pulled back slightly and starred at him incredulously.

"Why are you staying at a hotel for? Why don't you just stay here, like you always do and share my bed, like you always do?"

"I didn't want to inconvenience you, but if you must insist…" England left it at that as America lifted him up in his arms and started carrying him towards the second floor.

"Oh, but I do and after all it's Christmas, you wouldn't want to leave me here all alone, now would you?" He whispered in Arthur's ear.

"Perish the thought." He whispered back. They continued with the teasing until they got to the bedroom. From there, they exchanged their thoughts with actions rather than words.

* * *

The following morning, Arthur woke up to find Alfred gently wrapped up around himself and using his chest as a makeshift pillow. The Englishman combed a hand through the younger man's tousled sandy blonde hair and smiled to himself. If every Christmas could be spent like this with the one he loved, then he would be happy for many more years to come.

**OWARI**

**So, I decided to put it all into one chapter in the end. It's finally DONE! Hurray for that. I don't have much else to say. I hope you liked it. I have many more stories planned, especially for the Christmas season, so keep a look out! **

**Reviews, no matter how short, even if they are anonymous, mean a lot to me and let me know that my writing brings emotions to you readers out there. I see you, the ones who only favourite, the ones who add me to alert, don't think I don't. Even if it's just an exclamation point, it warms my heart.**

**Started writing: December 1****st**** 2009, 12:57pm**

**Finished writing: December 12****th**** 2009, 1:32 am**

**Started typing: December 12****th**** 2009, 4:40pm**

**Finished typing: December 12****th**** 2009, 9:11pm**


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